MUSKEGON, MI – There are plenty of significant issues on the state and local agendas, but no issue excites Muskegon County’s state legislators like a potential barge terminal on Muskegon Lake.

That development project proposed for the Port of Muskegon was prominently mentioned by state Reps. Marcia Hovey-Wright, D-Muskegon, and Collene Lamonte, D-Montague, in a state legislative update Thursday, Nov. 21 before the Muskegon Rotary Club.

The concept is to construct a river barge terminal on the east end of Muskegon Lake to transport products on barges through Chicago and into the Mississippi River system all the way to the Gulf Coast, if needed.

From left are state Rep. Collene Lamonte, Muskegon Rotary Club President Dr. Don Crandall and state Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright.Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle

Hovey-Wright and Lamonte – who represent all of Muskegon County through their 92nd and 91st Michigan House Districts – said they will do whatever is needed to make the barge terminal a reality in Muskegon.

The concept is being pursued by the Lansing-based Michigan Agri-Business Association to serve farm-based members wanting to find a cost-effective means of transporting Michigan-produced grains and other agricultural products and equipment. Association President Jim Byrum has called a meeting of interested parties in early December at the Grand Valley State University alternative energy center in Muskegon to explore the barge terminal idea.

One of the key issues facing port developers would be establishing U.S. Coast Guard regulations to allow for the river barges to operate from Muskegon to Chicago on Lake Michigan and into the river system, Byrum has said.

“We have to get an agreement with the Coast Guard to allow the river barges to make it up to Muskegon,” Lamonte told Rotary members at their weekly luncheon at the Shoreline Inn conference center. “This can be a game-changing operation for Muskegon.”

Lamonte said that feedback from Byrum and other agricultural leaders since the concept was first publicized in late summer has been promising. The statewide interest appears to be growing to make it happen, she said. Hovey-Wright serves on the House Agricultural Committee.

“This port is our unique asset,” Hovey-Wright said in pitching the barge terminal idea to Rotarians.

Port of Muskegon development was not the only issue on the state legislators’ minds.

Lamonte brought up the need to continue to push for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians plans for a casino in Fruitport Township at the site of the old Muskegon horse racetrack at U.S. 31 and I-96. Gov. Rick Snyder – opposed to expansion of casino developments in the state – recently agreed to move the regulatory issues with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs forward in Washington.

Hovey-Wright discussed state energy policy and the possible expansion of the renewable energy “portfolio standard” that could call for more reliance on energy sources such as wind, solar and bio-mass. She also discussed “foster-child bill of rights” legislation, allowing the craft beer industry to taste test at farmer’s markets like the wine industry has been allowed in Michigan, the need to further redevelopment of the former Sappi paper mill property on Muskegon Lake and the complex negotiations underway in Lansing to reform the state’s no-fault automotive insurance system.